Library News

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Librarians in New York's oldest library have uncovered a surprising borrower with overdue books: George Washington.

The first president of the United States of America borrowed two books from the New York Society Library in 1789 but failed to return them.

Adjusted for inflation, he has since racked up $300,000 (£195,000) in fines for being some 220 years late.

The New York Society Library says it will not pursue the fine. It would simply like the books back.

He famously never told a lie, but it seems George Washington was not without his faults, the BBC's Madeleine Morris notes, reporting from Washington.

Two small losses

On 5 October 1789, the first president borrowed two books from what was then the only library in Manhattan - "Law of Nations," a dissertation on international relations, and a volume of debate transcripts from Britain's House of Commons.

George Washington did not even bother to sign his name in the borrower's ledger. An aide simply scrawled "president" next to the title to show who had taken them out.

The two tomes were due back a month later but were never returned and have been accruing late fees ever since. Librarians uncovered the misdemeanour as they were digitising the library's ledger from that time.

The New York Society Library says it will not pursue the fine but it would like the books back.

Sadly for fans of 18th-Century political literature, they appear to have vanished. On the balance sheet of George Washington's achievements for America, mark down two small losses, our correspondent says.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

From: www.boston.com...
“Once I get to know someone and
their reading interests, I make direct recommendations as soon as they
come in,’’ said Procious, director of the Salem Athenaeum, which
celebrates its 200th anniversary with a fund-raiser on Saturday. “I’m
cultivating the community if I get people excited about what they’re
reading.’’

Since 1810,
Salem-area residents have paid for subscriptions to the athenaeum - one
of only about 16 membership libraries left in the United States - and
have welcomed nonmembers to read free of charge. A 50,000-volume
collection testifies to the membership’s evolving, idiosyncratic
passions for topics from theology to botany and world travel.

Now
as the athenaeum enters its third century, this historic institution
faces sobering challenges to its venerable traditions. A $20,000
deficit is the athenaeum’s largest ever, representing 15 percent of its
annual budget of about $130,000. Officers strive to recruit new
subscribers, but persuading people to pay $90 per year per household
for the privilege of checking out books and sustaining a Salem icon
isn’t an easy sell in a tough economy. Meanwhile, rare volumes dating
to the 16th and 17th centuries are gradually decaying in the absence of
funds needed for preservation.

“They’re
going to turn to dust,’’ said Francie King, president of the board of
trustees. “We just can’t afford to do what it takes to preserve them,
unless someone were to give us millions.’’
...

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

For many Americans, having high-speed access to the Internet at home
is as vital as electricity, heat and water. And yet about one-third of
the population, 93 million people, have elected not to connect.

A comprehensive survey by the Federal Communications Commission
found several barriers to entry, with broadband prices looming largest.
The commission will release the findings on Tuesday and employ them as
it submits a national broadband plan to Congress next month.

Of
the 93 million persons without broadband identified by the study, about
80 million are adults. Small numbers of them access the Internet by
dial-up connections, or outside the home at places like offices or
libraries, but most never log on anywhere. In a world of digital
information, these people are “at a distinct disadvantage,” said John
Horrigan, who oversaw the survey for the F.C.C.

Julius Genachowski,
the chairman of the F.C.C., is promoting faster and more pervasive
broadband infrastructure as a tenet of economic growth and democracy.

The
study, conducted last fall, interviewed 5,005 residents by telephone.
It indicates that the gap in access is no longer between slower dial-up
and faster broadband; the overwhelming majority of people who have
Internet access have broadband.

“Overall Internet penetration has
been steady in the mid-70 to upper 70 percent range over the last five
years,” Mr. Horrigan said in an interview on Monday. “Now we’re at a
point where, if you want broadband adoption to go up by any significant
measure, you really have to start to eat into the segment of
non-Internet-users.”

Those nonusers are disproportionately older
and more likely to live in rural areas. Those with household incomes of
less than $50,000 are “much less likely” to have broadband access,
according to the F.C.C. report.

Asked about the reasons for not
having broadband at home, almost half of respondents cited a
prohibitive cost, and almost as many said they were uncomfortable using
a computer. Forty-five percent answered “yes” to the statement, “I am
worried about all the bad things that can happen if I use the
Internet.” Others said they viewed the Internet as a waste of time.

Respondents
were able to give multiple answers, and most did. Consequently, “policy
solutions that provide comprehensive aid to people are most likely to
have the most payoff,” Mr. Horrigan said.

Twelve percent of those
surveyed who had not adopted broadband said that they could not connect
to broadband where they lived. Because this figure is self-reported by
the residents, it may not be entirely accurate.

The F.C.C. was
mandated by Congress to produce a detailed plan with specific
recommendations to hasten the national adoption of broadband in the
United States. The plan is expected to be unveiled by the F.C.C. on
March 17. It will recommend, among other elements, an expansion of
broadband adoption from the current 65 percent to more than 90 percent,
Mr. Genachowski said in a blog post on an F.C.C. Web site last week.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

In her new book,
author Marilyn Johnson argues that, even in the Google age, human
beings, namely librarians, are still the best resource for accurate
answers. In fact, Johnson says librarians are more important now then
ever before. Plus, they're fascinating! They compete in dance competitions and
blog about the quirky and downright disgusting behavior of patrons.

In her new book, author Marilyn Johnson argues that, even in the Google
age, human beings, namely librarians, are still the best resource for
accurate answers. In fact, Johnson says librarians are more important
now then ever before. Plus, they're fascinating! They compete in dance
competitions and blog about the quirky and downright disgusting
behavior of patrons.

You can listen using the embedded player shown above or you can download a MP3 here.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Whether
it was to do research or check out the latest Dr. Seuss book, a deer
broke through a back-door window and into the library at Graham A.
Barden Elementary School Tuesday morning.
Custodian Kelvin Becton discovered the broken window in the library
around 6:50 a.m. Assistant principal Christine Covert called Havelock
police thinking that someone had broken into the school.
As Becton went to close the front door to the library, he happened
to see the back end of a small deer that was perhaps 3 1/2-feet tall
run into the library office.
“He said he didn’t see the deer’s head,” Covert said of Becton. “He saw the back of it, and he was a small.”
In a few minutes, the deer checked out of the library, running out the same way it had come in.
“The door opens into a little garden area the students maintain for
vegetables,” Covert said. “We also have an acorn tree out there, and it
is pretty obvious that he was interested in the acorns.”
The deer’s collision with the door sent glass flying about 30 feet into the library.
“I’ve looked real closely at the glass,” Principal Joan Bjork said.
“We don’t see any blood or anything on the glass. Other than having a
bad headache, I think he’s going to be OK.”
The only damage was to the glass pane at the bottom of the doorway.
There appeared to be no damage to anything in the library. Caution tape
sealed off most of the library to students at the school.
“We were afraid he was going to tear up the books, but he didn’t,” Covert said.
Not surprisingly, administrators plan to use the incident to educate students.“We’re going to use this as a way of teaching children about deer
and the loss of habitat and the impact that humans have on wildlife,”
Covert said.

Friday, November 06, 2009

The 2008 report has been released and is now available online. The report is for the 2008 fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2008 (84 color pages; PDF).Here are some Fast Facts about the Library of Congress for FY 2008:
+ Welcomed more than 1.6 million onsite visitors
+ Provided reference services to 545,084 individuals in person, by telephone and through written and electronic correspondence
+ Recorded a total of 141,847,810 items in the collections:
+ 21,218,408 cataloged books in the Library of Congress classification system
11,599,606 books in large type and raised characters, incunabula
(books printed before 1501), monographs and serials, music, bound
newspapers, pamphlets, technical reports and other printed material
++ 109,029,796 items in the nonclassified (special) collections, including:
++ 3,005,028 audio materials, such as discs, tapes, talking books and other recorded formats
++ 62,778,118 manuscripts
++ 5,357,385 maps
++ 16,086,572 microforms
++ 5,674,956 pieces of printed sheet music
+++ 14,388,175 visual materials, as follows:
+++ 1,207,776 moving images
+++ 12,536,764 photographs
+++ 98,288 posters
+++ 545,347 prints and drawings
+ Circulated more than 22 million disc, cassette and braille items
to more than 500,000 blind and physically handicapped patrons
+ Registered 232,907 claims to copyright
+ Completed 871,287 research assignments for Congress through the Congressional Research Service
+ Prepared 1,529 legal research reports for Congress and oth er federal agencies through the Law Library
+ Recorded more than 85 million visits and 610 million page views on
the Library’s website. At year’s end, the Library’s on line historical
collections contained 15.3 million digital files
+ Employed a permanent staff of 3,637 employees
+ Operated with a total fiscal 2008 appropriation of $613,496,414, including the authority to spend $50,447,565 in receipts Access the FY 2008 Annual Report (84 color pages; PDF)You can access annual reports for the years 2000-2008 on this page. All reports are in PDF.
Source: Library of Congress